Something For a Lonely Man

S4E6: For Californication to be successful, it relies on one thing: Hank Moody. Sure, there are often funny and sweet moments with supporting characters of the show, but ultimately we're not watching to see Charlie Runkle's next screw up or listen to Marcy's next gross comment. We're watching to see how Hank Moody deals with the world. David Duchovny plays Hank as both lovable and hatable. We can't understand why he does the things he does, yet at the same time, we care so much when life doesn't go his way. Mix in a little wackiness from the supporting characters (specifically, Rob Lowe's Eddie Nero) and last night's "Lawyers, Guns and Money" serves up a quintessential episode of the show at its finest, resulting in one of its best episodes in a long, long time.
"Nice work, asshole. Deal's off." -Abby
At the tail end of last week's episode, we saw some dude in a fedora snap a photo of Hank Moody in a compromising position with the two women that he really should not be in a compromising position with: Sasha and Mia. Turns out, Mr. Fedora sent this picture to all his friends and the photo spread across the internet like wildfire. Abby had been working on a plea deal with the DA, but as soon as this photo hits the internet -- despite the reality being that Hank stopped the situation before anything happened -- the deal is off. The DA is running for governor and doesn't want to look like he's soft on statutory rape (a fair concern, I'd say). This leads to Abby quitting, unable to deal with the Hank -- the most frustrating client she's ever dealt with. But she's not the only one who quits. Sasha shows up at Hank's door to reveal that she's dropping out of the movie due to the bad press.
"I stay, I wax. Take it or leave it." -Marcy
"Alright then. The full-Kardashian it is." -Stu
Meanwhile in the b-plot, Stu still wants Marcy -- badly. So badly, in fact, that he called Marcy's business and scheduled a fake bikini wax at his house. She shows up and immediately is furious when she realizes Stu tricked her, so Stu's only choice is to take the bikini wax. It's apparent that even though Marcy is very annoyed by Stu, ultimately, she thinks he's really sweet. And he is sweet. There's something charming about his desperation. He's clearly a lonely man (who we learn has been married three times) who dedicated his life to his career. With the past couple episodes, the writers have done a nice job molding Stu's obsession with Marcy from creepy to charming. Stu's a romantic, and right now, he's caught up in the "honeymoon" feeling, where the only thing in the world that matters is how he feels about Marcy. It's almost as if he's a little kid with a big crush, and fitting a genuinely sweet and innocent feelings of love into Californication is a nice change in tone from the typical in-your-face, over-the-top antics that usually come with the show's relationships. Honestly, it works quite well.
"You're my lawyer again?" -Hank
"Maybe. Tomorrow's another day." -Abby
"Tomorrow?" -Hank
Within the last few minutes of the episode, Abby is waiting at the hotel bar for Hank. Earlier, Karen had stopped by her office to plead with her to not drop Hank. This was a nice moment, because we got to see really how similar Karen and Abby are, and why Hank is so attracted to both of them. Despite Abby and Hank's relationship being completely professional, Karen speaks to Abby as any ex-girlfriend would speak to a current girlfriend. And it works. Abby clearly feels something more for Hank, because she goes to the hotel to meet him at the bar. Then, the inevitable happens. We end the episode with a mashed up montage of Abby and Hank finally sleeping together.
All in all, "Lawyers, Guns and Money" was a terrific episode of Californication. It carried just enough crazy to have me belly laughing at times, but yet managed to sneak in enough heart to feel genuine.

Every week, I gush about the wondrous creation that is NBC’s Community in my recaps. I’m barely able to contain myself, trying to squeeze in every hilarious one-liner and often surpassing a reasonable word count just so that I can talk about each glorious and often tiny detail. Why so much love? If you’re a fan of the show you probably understand, but I’m focusing on those who’ve yet to experience the awesomeness. Fans of the show are so emphatic about how great Community is, but it’s hard to know why without diving into at least a few episodes yourself. With that in mind, perhaps I can tip the scales and make the decision to fall madly in love with this unique sitcom that much easier with a guide to one of the best (albeit sadly underappreciated) shows on television.
“There is a time and a place for subtlety, and that time was before Scary Movie.” – Troy
Yes, there are many shows that have a knack for pop culture references, and I’m not here to downplay their accomplishments, but when it comes to movie and television references, Community is king. The writers don’t just throw in witty quips that exhibit their extensive knowledge (we’re talking to you, Gilmore Girls). Nope. They don’t just insert their characters in wacky recreations of iconic movies scenes (Family Guy, you do this cleverly most of the time but let’s face it, Community kicks your ass). Creator Dan Harmon’s abnormal sitcom feeds off of pop culture references, taking the films and television shows the writers love and combining it with a ridiculous sense of humor to create something that pays homage to its source while still creating something completely unique.
Here’s an epic scene from the most well-known and action movie reference-heavy episode of the show, “Modern Warfare.” When I say it’s epic, I mean E-P-I-C. Enjoy.
“And that was it. It was that simple. At that moment we stopped being a family and started being a family …in italics.” - Abed
The integral piece of the pop culture element is one of Community’s best characters, Abed (which is saying a lot because I couldn’t banish a single character from the show if I tried). He’s your run of the mill confuses-TV-with-real-life character with an almost robotic ability to absorb and recite detail from life and film and television – oh, you’ve never heard of that character trait? Exactly.
On one level, he provides context for the unending film and TV references and brings a metaphysical element to the show by constantly referring to the fact that the characters are taking part in episodes and storylines in his normal character dialogue. On a much simpler level, but one that provides infinite entertainment, is the fact that Abed’s nature makes him a bit odd, to put it lightly. He’s not one to laugh normally with everyone else and his birdlike awkwardness is entertaining in itself. This base character takes those moments where he fully commits to his spur of the moment and spot-on impressions and movie reenactments from good to uproarious.
“To be blunt, Jeff and Britta is no Ross and Rachel. Your sexual tension and lack of chemistry are putting us all on edge...” –Abed
Season one was a little lighter on this concept, but the switch to season two made this point all too clear. Basically, Jeff and Britta are the leading man and lady of Community – at least as much as two people can be on an ensemble show – but unlike the flawed but ultimately lovable small screen couples like Jim and Pam or Ross and Rachel, Jeff and Britta are awful, dysfunctional people.
Now before I anger anyone, just know their bad qualities are what make them so awesome; it’s this sick relationship that keeps the Jeff/Britta connection from spiraling downward into sitcom mediocrity. Their terrible qualities are what tie them inextricably together and create constant angry, power-driven sexual tension while still letting them act as the antithesis of the on-again off-again relationship that seems to plague every sitcom. Even when the natural progression of the show drives them together, watch as Jeff and Britta have almost allergic reactions to the story pop culture has determined they must follow.
“I hope I get multiple personalities. I get lonely in long showers.” –Troy
Now the beauty of Troy Barnes is not just the show’s apt take on the typical dumb, self-centered yet completely lovable jock. The reason Troy (who mostly acts as a supporting character) should single-handedly motivate you to watch Community is that he’s played by one of the funniest comedians out there: Donald Glover. I’ll spare you all the details about his time as the youngest writer for 30 Rock and the fact that he’s actually a pretty decent rapper, and stick to the content at hand. Glover’s comedic delivery is uncanny and, as far as I can tell, unmatched. He brings his own brand of joyous, spastic voices and movements to everything he does, and if he doesn’t make you laugh there’s probably something wrong with you. Glover is also known among the cast for adding witty improvisations to the writers’ already hilarious lines, taking his well-crafted character to a whole new level of funny. Check out this scene where he takes what could have been an amusing plot twist and turns it to something absolutely hilarious. Just try and tell me you don’t love this guy. I dare you.
"I'm Doctor Doogie Seacrest. I think I'm better than everyone because I'm 40." -Troy
Just as with any episode of Community, you can’t end without a great tag. Usually Troy and Abed treat us to a mini-episode of their bromantic relationship, so without further ado, enjoy the one that started it all.
Community returns with new episodes this Thursday night at 8 p.m. on NBC.

It’s sort of absurd to go see movies in theaters nowadays. Money’s tight, there’s OnDemand and Netflix streaming and cable and whatnot. But there’s a magic in going to see movies, and I’m afraid I won’t ever be able to stop. It’s just different than watching movies at home.
One of Martin Scorsese’s favorite facts about film has to do with how projection works. Movies, even ones that are digitally projected, are a series of photographs. In the case of film there are 24 frames per second. That movement you think you see on screen is really just happening in your mind. In a very real way, every movie you’ve ever seen in the theater is a dream that you yourself created.
After he tells you that about the whole projection thing, Scorsese likes to smile and make the following observation: Because there are 24 frames per second, and 60 seconds in a minute, that means that most of our time in the movie theater is spent in the dark, dreaming. In a very real, physical way, seeing a movie in the theater creates a kind of subjectivity available in no other medium. All great filmmakers understand this and use it as a tool for storytelling.
Alfred Hitchcock did this better than almost anyone. His suspense thriller Rear Window famously replicated the experience of watching movies with the film’s setup: James Stewart sits in his apartment looking out the rear window into all the other windows of a bunch of other apartments. What’s on Stewart’s mind is his girlfriend, Grace Kelly, who he doesn’t quite have the guts to commit to. This is absurd, because it’s Grace Kelly. Somehow they make it work. Because Stewart’s preoccupied with his relationship, what he sees in every window is some riff on relationships. A fighting couple, a lonely single guy, a woman pining for her husband off at war. In this way, Hitchcock brings us right inside Stewart’s anxiety about commitment, and the grand subjective adventure of suspense thrillers can unfold.
Two recent movies are miracles of subjectivity: Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.
Black Swan takes us deep inside the world of ballet dancer Nina Sayers, played by Natalie Portman. In fact, most of the brilliant craft, editing, effects, acting, framing and design of the film is done to take us so deep inside of Nina that it doesn’t takes long for us to be completely unable to distinguish between “real” and “fake.” Aronofsky excels at the primary skill of the cinematic storyteller -- he forces us to dream Nina’s dream.
Danny Boyle faced a far different challenge with 127 Hours, the movie about Aron Ralston, the adventurer who had to cut off his own arm to escape a boulder that trapped him in a remote Utah canyon. Since the movie builds to one man’s decision to do something almost unimaginable to the rest of us, Boyle used unconventional editing, flashbacks, sound effects and soundtrack pulls to bring us right inside of James Franco’s Ralston. By the time we get to the fateful moment of self-amputation, we’re so in tune with Ralston that the audience I saw the film with yelled out loud -- not at the pain of cutting into one’s own arm but at the triumph of fighting for freedom at any cost.
The economy’s terrible. Movies are expensive. Home theaters are awesome, and HD is super sweet. But there’s still nothing like the experience of watching a movie in the theater. Cause Martin Scorsese says so.

S07E07 The Office delights itself in awkward moments, strained pauses of uncomfortableness and frighteningly embarrassing situations. So it's surprising they haven’t dealt with religion more, considering that just mentioning religion creates enough awkwardness to fill an entire episode. But then again, how often do you get into talks about the nature of religion with your coworkers? The Office has touched on religion in the past, but it was only briefly at the beginning of season four (in Fun Run), and even then all we basically learned was Darryl and Pam were both Presbyterian. That all changed with this week’s episode.
But first, our cold opening. Pam led a (more than likely) corporate-mandated hygiene seminar, which Dwight steadfastly disagreed with. Dwight believes in tough love for his immune system and welcomes any challenge to strengthen it. This resulted in a brief montage of Jim, Erin, and Andy sneezing in Dwight’s face. Silly? Yes. But worth it seeing Erin running over to sneeze in Dwight’s face.
Then we got to the main event and this week we got a full serving size of religion, thanks to Cece Halpert and her baptism. The first half of the episode followed the service, which, of course, Michael invited the whole office to see. I’m not so sure that the entire office would come to something this trivial (at least in terms of their established beliefs, no one besides Angela appeared that religious) but if they didn’t we wouldn’t have an episode.
We get a couple good little gags throughout the service like Dwight taking advantage of a large group of people to make a sale and Ryan complaining about the lack of open wi-fi in the church. But the real winner of this was Jim, who is almost, but not quite, devolving into a bumbling father. When he tries to change Cece’s diaper during the service, he gets baby poop all over her gown. His cries of horror and pleading to the baby through the closed doors were hilarious. He takes the baby to the car in desperation and returns with her wrapped in an Arcade Fire t-shirt (does this mean that Cece is destined to be a hipster?).
The fumbling continues when the pastor invites everyone to the ceremony after party, which the Halperts were criminally underprepared for. This left everyone complaining about the lack of food which perturbed Jim and Pam because after all, some people weren’t even invited in the first place and they don’t even know half of the guests there. Pam leaves to get some last minute replacements, which means Jim is in charge of the baby. And because this is a sitcom, Jim loses the baby. And because this is a sitcom, when he learns that a small blond haired woman was last seen with the baby, he automatically thinks it was Angela. But when he confronts her, it turns out that Pam’s mom had the baby the whole time. Simple misunderstanding. It's not exactly his fault either, he's doing what he thinks is best in the moment and running with it. He truly loves his wife and child and wants the best for them and sometimes things outside of his control don't work for him. Plus he's just so damn cute you forgive him anyway.
Angela’s bits in this story were interesting. She has always been a hypocritical person, judging others while she had secret affairs and undermined her colleagues. But this season has seen her two-faceness come full front. Last week we saw it when she donned a very revealing nurse costume to win a coupon book. This week we saw it when she talked to Cece in the cute baby voice but immediately dropped it and returned to her snottiness when addressing Jim and Pam. Then she tried to act innocent when it was discovered she had taken several ("thousand" according to Kevin) scones while others went hungry. It's an interesting character development but hopefully it won’t burn out later in the season.
The second half follows Michael. Now Michael is a very innocent and lonely man, which makes him very susceptible to anything that offers him friendship or success. He is the ultimate patsy. He falls for everything (like exercising equipment, infomercials, and pyramid schemes to name a few). which means that he would fall in love with the idea of a church. When everyone was friendly to him and shook his hand, he thought he finally found a group that loved being together and doing things with each other. He couldn’t find that in his coworkers so he turned to the church. He defends everyone from his coworkers who (snidely and snarkly) don’t show the respect he recently acquired for the congregation.
This all comes to full power when he gets swept up in the youth group who is celebrating its departure for a three month mission trip in Mexico. He hops on board the bus filled with the spirit. Everyone tries to talk sense into him, but he won’t budge. The only person who is even remotely impressed with this is Erin. who might be the only person more gullible than Michael. And since Michael needed someone to act against on the bus and because he’ll do anything to impress Erin, Andy joins him. They’re welcomed with open arms by the other students and they set off.
What happens next is basically what would’ve happened had the camera continued to roll at the end of The Graduate. The initial joy and excitement they got swept up in faded slowly away and they begin to realize what kind of mess they had gotten themselves into. This isn’t something new to The Office -- Michael has gotten himself into plenty of situations before where he couldn’t cash the checks his mouth was writing (Scott’s Tots, anyone?), but putting it on a bus really drove home The Graduate (probably) unintentional homage.
Their initial attempts to get off the bus are shot down (after all, once you’ve been sucked into a church its pretty hard to get out) but they eventually are let off after they scream loud enough. They’re joined by a random kid who pleads with them to not tell his parents. Erin picks them up and informs them that they all went to a movie together after Kevin’s suggestion. This really hurts Michael’s feelings since that was what he initially wanted. Then we got the strangest closing to The Office ever, when Erin cranks up A Prairie Home Companion and grins like a maniac. I’m not sure I understood it, but whatever, I can appreciate abstract humor.
In the end, not a terrible episode. The show was definitely split into two distinct stories which usually results in a poorer episode, but these two went fairly well together since Michael and the Jim/Pam stories have always been the main aspect of the show.
However, I’m inclined to bump up this episode’s grade (if we did that) an extra half a grade for Toby’s mini story line. It was established that Toby was a man of faith prior to meeting his ex-wife, and he left the seminary for her because he wanted to get laid. This caused him to stop before heading into the church because he “and the big guy have some catching up to do.” When he finally makes his way to the altar he looks up and wonders aloud, “why you always gotta be so mean to me?” and that was it. Perfect, bleak, dark, in character, and so funny, because Toby suffers through so much and doesn’t react to it at all, it was a great bit for the episode.

The stunner was recently exposed as a cocaine user in British tabloid The Sun and now she's revealing what she did to earn upto $22,500 (£15,000)-an-hour as a prostitute to millionaire businessmen.
She tells the publication, "This is the truth, warts and all. For a short while I sold my body for a lot of money. I am not proud of it... In the summer of 2004 I was drinking a bottle of vodka a night and using cocaine by day.
"The coke ran out, my cash card was rejected and my dealer was ringing up demanding payments. I knew I desperately needed money - now."
Anderton admits her first sexual encounter as a hooker lasted less than two minutes: "I felt a bit sick before my first time. But I told myself to get a grip. I got a taxi to a hotel in Knightsbridge, West London. I was shaking and sweating. I was dressed in a black Dolce and Gabbana suit, with six-inch Louboutin heels. I looked respectable, successful, normal.
"I went to this man's room. I had told the madam I didn't want to be with some horrible fat, old man. So when he opened the door I was relieved. He was a smart Arab, mid-30s and quite handsome. We shook hands. He seemed so lonely my nerves vanished and I felt sorry for this man.
"After about 40 minutes of talking, I decided to take charge and stood up and took my dress off. I pushed him back on the bed while he looked at me eagerly. I closed my eyes and quickly pulled down his underwear. I felt in control. It was over very quickly. He handed me the cash and I slipped out."
The model admits she was an instant big hit: "I actually giggled when she (the madam) asked if I fancied a trip to Florence. I thought, 'Italy doesn't sound too bad'. Suddenly I was on a plane, first class. I was taken to a beautiful hotel, where a porter showed me to my room.
"It was filled with chocolates, champagne, flowers. Laid out on the bed was expensive underwear with a note that read, 'Please put these on'."
The client was a British businessman she knew, and her money-making side venture almost came to a crashing halt.
She adds, "He said, 'Sophie, why is a nice girl like you doing something like this?' I couldn't answer. But the sex was amazing and the following morning I woke up and found a Christian Dior bag filled with £50 notes. I'd sold my body again and this was what it was worth."
Her days as a high-class hooker ended when she almost threw up during sex with a "leering" overweight businessman: "I felt sick. His face was sweaty and cheerful, like a cat who'd got the cream. For the first time, I felt like a piece of meat. He stripped, revealing a huge stomach. It was over in a minute. I left trembling and crying.
"I had slept with five men and made more than £50,000, which paid my drug debts and a deposit on a flat. Now I could escape."

WHAT IT’S ABOUT?
Astronaut Sam Bell casts a lonely figure as he nears the end of a three-year contract that has him living on the far side of the moon mining Helium-3 a key source of energy in our not-so-distant future. Because his satellite’s busted he’s only able to receive taped messages and has no contact with anyone other than a simple-minded computer named “Gerty.” Just as he’s looking forward to returning to his wife and young daughter he becomes physically and mentally impaired and is forced into recuperation. It’s there that he meets his younger clone who claims he is there to perform the same exact mission Sam started three years earlier. Working against time and suffering hallucinations Sam tries to find out what’s going on and where his future is really heading.
WHO’S IN IT?
Moon is for all intents and purposes a one-man show brilliantly played by Sam Rockwell in a role reportedly written directly for him. He’s certainly up to the task of playing a man cut off from direct human contact who suddenly comes face-to-face with himself — or at least a slightly different version. Rockwell succeeds in making both characters viable and delivers a feat of controlled acting few could pull off as effectively. In a mixed-bag film that strikes right at the heart of alienation and paranoia Rockwell movingly portrays a man whose control of his own life is slipping away. The other characters exist on the periphery of the story but special mention should be made of Kevin Spacey’s voice work as “Gerty ” the nice but unsophisticated computer that becomes Rockwell’s main sparring partner in the film.
WHAT’S GOOD?
Director Duncan Jones son of rocker David Bowie makes his feature debut with Moon. Working with a sparse independent movie budget Jones creates an impressive and believable-looking version of a complicated outerspace mining operation but wisely avoids the temptation of letting the film’s technological aspects overpower the piece. Instead he puts the focus on the human story and a fascinating tour-de-force by Rockwell which forges the heart of the film.
WHAT’S BAD?
Moon is said to be something of an homage to austere sci-fi classics like Silent Running Outland and Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1968 masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey — the latter of which in particular has many story elements in common with this film. Unfortunately Jones’ tribute feels a little too familiar and it would not be strange if the audience gets a strong feeling of déjà vu. Even though the above films are cited for inspiration the very internal mechanism that drives the film tends to be more a cerebral exercise in the vein of Steven Soderbergh’s lumbering 2002 Solaris remake the slowest-moving George Clooney movie ever made.
FAVORITE SCENE:
Rockwell’s first encounter with himself is hypnotic and temporarily rescues the film from its glacial pacing.
NETFLIX OR MULTIPLEX?
Netflix. Moon tends to be sleep-inducing so by watching it at home you can at least wake up and press rewind.

Word around Hollywood is that tracking is unspectacular for Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys (Lionsgate) and the Al Pacino/Robert DeNiro pairing in Righteous Kill (Overture). Coming off of the worst weekend at the box office since September 2003, the movie business could use a needle of adrenaline to the heart (a la Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction) and, although business will improve, there is probably no stealth blockbuster in the cards here.
I have learned not to underestimate Tyler Perry, and I am putting my money on The Family That Preys to win the weekend. Although he is by no means a critical favorite and like past films The Family That Preys has not screened for critics, Perry has a solid following, and he is continuing to make movies that feed his fan base while simultaneously working to broaden his appeal.
His new movie from Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta is not a “fat suit comedy” like Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion. Instead, this is a drama that intertwines two families – one black and one white – personally and in business, and it boasts Academy Award winner Kathy Bates (Misery, About Schmidt) and Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard (Passion Fish, Desperate Housewives).
The trailer and TV commercials for The Family That Preys portray a more-serious-than-usual Perry project (right down to the use of Jill Scott’s edgy “Hate On Me”), but that does not necessarily spell disaster. He knows what he is doing.Perry’s core audience is Christian, middle-class, African-American women, and this movie appears to be spot-on for that crowd (industry tracking looks solid with Females 25 Plus). It will not, however, grab the Under 25 business of his comedies, so I am predicting something in the $18M range.
That would make this Perry’s 2nd-softest opening behind Madea's Family Reunion ($30M), Diary of a Mad Black Woman ($21.9M), Why Did I Get Married? ($21.3M) and this year’s Meet the Browns ($20M), and ahead of only 2007’s Daddy’s Little Girls ($11.2M). Still, given that he is attempting to reach for new fans, this would be a good opening.
It is not inconceivable that Righteous Kill could win the weekend, but I suspect it will finish at #2. It is hard to talk about this movie without mentioning producer Avi Lerner. According to IMDb, he has produced 214 movies in his career, many through his company, Millennium Films. In the last two years, 11 Millennium projects have reached US theatres, and they are some of the worst reviewed box office misses in recent history.
MILLENNIUM FILMS THEATRICAL RELEASES SINCE SEPTEMBER 2006
- domestic box office &amp; percentage of positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes -
September 2006 – The Wicker Man - $23.6M cume – 15% Fresh on RT
September 2006 – The Black Dahlia - $22.5M cume – 34% Fresh on RT
December 2006 – Home of the Brave - $52,000 cume – 23% Fresh on RT
April 2007 – Lonely Hearts - $188,000 cume – 51% Fresh on RT
September 2007 – King of California - $268,000 cume – 62% Fresh on RT
December 2007 – Blonde Ambition - $6,422 cume – 14% Fresh on RT
January 2008 - Rambo - $42.75M cume – 36% Fresh on RT
January 2008 - Mad Money - $20.6M – 21% Fresh on RT
January 2008 – Blonde and Blonder - $42,183 cume – N/A (not enough reviews)
April 2008 – 88 Minutes - $16.9M cume – 6% Fresh on RT
May 2008 - War, Inc. - $580,000 cume – 31% Fresh on RT
It is still hard to believe that Al Pacino made the dreadful 88 Minutes (Sony) for Lerner, but now, he’s following up with the as-yet-unseen Righteous Kill. Overture has wisely kept the picture under wraps with critics (since Millennium’s last 10 films have an average Rotten Tomatoes score of 29% Fresh), and industry expectations are very low. How bad can a movie starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro be? One studio exec said to me, “They aren’t even good on the poster.”
It is depressing to see two of the greatest stars in movie history accepting roles in below average movies for big paychecks without any regard for legacy. It’s been a long time since we heard Pacino say “Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. But don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever.” Since DeNiro was staring into that mirror and simmering “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me?” Since Pacino was leading a chant of “Attica! Attica! Remember Attica?” And since DeNiroshadowboxed while muttering “I’m da boss, I’m da boss.” But my hunch is that a fair number of unsuspecting moviegoers will read the stars on the marquee and buy tickets this weekend, and Righteous Kill could hit $16M.
The Coen Brothers return this weekend with their follow-up to Best Picture winner No Country For Old Men. The quirky, comic spy thriller Burn After Reading (Focus) stars Oscar winners George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton along with Academy Award nominees Brad Pitt and John Malkovich, and the reviews are very good (71% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), but Ethan and Joel have never been sure things at the box office. The success of No Country, however, has put this movie in position to be the biggest wide opening for a Coen Brothers film ever, surpassing Lady Killers ($12.6M) and Intolerable Cruelty ($12.5M). I am pegging Burn After Reading for a possible $13.6M 3-day.
The other new wide release this weekend is the female-geared The Women (Picturehouse), a remake of George Cukor’s 1939 classic. Despite the presence of many of the very best American actresses working today – Meg Ryan, Annette Bening,Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Bette Midler and Candice Bergen – Murphy Brown creator Diane English’s feature debut will not be a Sex &amp; the City-style box office surprise. The tracking looks good with Females 25 Plus, but $7.3M appears to be the weekend target.
EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS PREDICTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND OF 9/12
1. The Family That Preys (Lionsgate) - $18M
2. Righteous Kill (Overture) - $16.1M
3. Burn After Reading (Focus) - $13.6M
4. The Women (Picturehouse) - $7.3M
5. Tropic Thunder (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $5.3M
6. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros) - $4.2M
7. Bangkok Dangerous (Lionsgate) - $4.1M
8. The House Bunny (Sony) - $3.5M
9. Traitor (Overture) - $2.1M
10. Babylon A.D. (Fox) - $1.7M

While visiting the set of Pineapple Express, Hollywood.com had the chance to pull up a folding chair alongside James Franco just outside the set for a late night chat about the new pot comedy.
It turns out Franco, who spent the past few years starring in the Spiderman trilogy and attending grad school, was ready to return to his comedic roots. He says even Judd Apatow (Pineapple producer) took notice, telling him, “I miss the funny Franco.”
Now, the wait is almost over as Franco takes his role as Saul the drug dealer to the big screen - long hair, stoner garb and all.
HW: What’s going on with the hair?
James Franco: I guess I haven’t really done much comedy since Freaks and Geeks and this role is very different than anything I’ve done. I think the hair is really a way to push me even farther out of just what people know me for. I don’t really know what people know me for.
HW: So is this your complete wardrobe for the film?
JF: It’s very comfortable if anything. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Guatemalan pants. I have one wardrobe change in the whole movie so we tried a variety of things. Some sweatpants. The idea was to have something that I would wear lounging around the house and then he comes over and I have to leave immediately so I don’t get the chance to change. I don’t know anybody that would wear Guatemalan pants. I hear Woody Harrelson wears them. I don’t love them. But, after the test they were the most interesting. I wanted to wear hotel slippers. You know how people take those from hotels? But, there’s so much action in this that it would have been a hindrance because they would have fallen off.
HW: Can you describe your shirt to our readers?
JF: This is actually a David Gordon Green design. There is a I think it’s supposed to be a Great White shark although it’s a bit shaded so it’s black. There’s a kitten in it that looks serene. It’s almost like it’s sleeping. I think the shark is not eating it, but carrying it to safety. The kitten was left out in the ocean and this shark decided to put it in it’s mouth and carry it to shore.
HW: What was it like working with Seth Rogen again after all of this time?
JF: It’s great. As far as I know, Freaks and Geeks was his first professional job. He was funny on that, but you look back to episodes and they really didn’t give him a ton to do. Off camera he was always cracking us up…I think we’re a great team. Other people have said, ‘Oh this movie kind of reminds me of the action buddy movies that I watched when I was younger like Midnight Run. But, I see it more like an Abbot and Costello kind of thing. I keep telling him that we should take these characters and do other movies like Saul and Dale meet like the equivalent of Frankenstein or maybe like the Saw guy.
HW: Is it true you and Seth actually switched roles?
JF: They had been doing readings of this for years and I think Seth always read Saul. Then they gave it to me and they didn’t tell me what role I was playing. I assumed I was playing Dale. I thought it was really funny, but I thought, ‘Oh man. I really like Saul. He’s got all the funny lines.’ So we met after I read it and then it became clear they wanted me to play Saul, I was surprised but I was like perfect. So that’s the best of both worlds. I think it worked out great. I would say he’s the more feminine role in the relationship.
HW: Aren’t you the one who wants to be his really good friend and he isn’t having it?
JF: Exactly. It’s kind of a love story.
HW: You almost get that kind of homoerotic feeling.
JF: There’s a little bit of that. I’d say a lot of that is David Gordon Green’s influence. It’s definitely about two people coming together. A relationship between a dealer and his client. I don’t know from experience. The last time I bought pot was in high school, but I’ve been told that a lot of times dealers can be weird or it’s kind of a weird relationship. So at the beginning, he doesn’t want anything. He just wants my product and wants to get out of there. I’m kind of a lonely guy. I really like him. We get thrown into this situation together and of course throughout the movie, we become a lot closer.
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A perfect husband a devoted father a loyal friend a successful architect—yes Steven Burke (David Duchovny) is the kind of flawless family man we only encounter in hankie-soaking Hollywood melodramas. He exists solely to be killed off just so his friends and family can become better people through their loss. So it comes as no surprise that Steven dies a Good Samaritan's death while on his way home—of course—from buying ice cream for his two kids. If that won’t get you crying nothing will. Steven’s death leaves his wife Audrey (Halle Berry) a mess. She can’t look after herself let alone her daughter Harper (Alexis Llewellyn) and son Dory (Micah Berry). Instead Audrey turns to Steven’s best friend Jerry (Benicio Del Toro) for help. Not really the smartest choice—Audrey despises Jerry for squandering his life and career on drugs. But Audrey’s desperate for a shoulder to cry on so she inexplicably invites Jerry to stay at her home while he tries to clean up his act. Quicker than you can say “rest in peace ” Jerry’s dispensing words of wisdom to Steven’s kids and in a moment of unintentional hilarity spooning with the lonely Audrey in her bed. Audrey naturally comes to believe that Jerry isn’t the strung-out leech she’s considered him all these years. Still we can’t help but count down the minutes until Jerry slips back into his old habits. Or wonder how long it will take for Audrey to kick Jerry out of her house when the inevitable happens. Things We Lost in the Fire serves an important purpose: to make clear that Halle Berry’s performance in Monster's Ball wasn’t a happy accident. As a widow unable to function without her soul mate Berry shakes up the otherwise maudlin proceedings with a rage and intensity that’s honest and fearless. Never afraid to present Audrey as occasionally cold and unsympathetic especially in regards to her treatment of Jerry and her children Berry nevertheless always makes us feel Audrey’s burning love for Steven without resorting to Joan Crawford-like histrionics. Too bad Audrey is defined only by her role as a wife and mother—Berry never receives the chance to show that Audrey has a life outside her family. She does share a good rapport with the typically brooding Benicio Del Toro whose ravaged face reveals more about Jerry’s lifetime of self-inflicted pain and suffering than words ever could. But there is a slight spark to be found in Del Toro’s sleepy eyes which gives us the impression that Jerry has what it takes to live one day at time with the support of his new friends. David Duchovny doesn’t do much beyond smiling like he’s just been named Father of the Year for the 10th time. Not that Duchovny needs to exert himself to make Steven charming and likeable—Steven is as happy and uncomplicated as Duchovny’s Californication philanderer is as sad and screwed up. Alexis Llewellyn and Micah Berry (no relation to his onscreen mother) nail the anguish confusion and profound sense of loss that comes with grieving for a dead parent without being annoyingly precocious. How disappointing it is to discover that not even the usually calm and collected Susanne Bier can turn Things... into something more than the standard Lifetime TV weepy of the week. The Danish director’s Hollywood debut is very much like her earlier character-driven dramas in that it is preoccupied with how established family dynamics shift in the wake of a life-altering event. After the Wedding and Brothers managed to be poignant without getting too gushy but Bier cannot keep Things... from drowning in its own sentimentality. The problem clearly lies with screenwriter Allan Loeb’s emotionally manipulative script which fails from the start to convince us Audrey would open her house to her late husband’s drug buddy. Ignoring Loeb’s hard-to-swallow premise Bier does an excellent job of establishing the relationship between Audrey and Jerry. Theirs is a well-presented study in co-dependency which results in an insightful—though occasionally obvious—exploration of drug addiction the grieving process and the pursuit of personal redemption. Things... smartly avoids making much of its interracial marriage—it would only overcomplicate matters—or taking Audrey and Jerry down a path that would led to an ill-advised romance. If only Bier and Loeb showed some guts in the way they portray Steven. Surely he had at least one skeleton in his closet to make him seem more human. Everything we learn about Steven—especially about the fire referenced in the seemingly cryptic title—merely reinforces the notion that he was too good for this world. Or at least the world Hollywood thinks we live in.

Much like Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise this dreamy duet between a Dublin singer-songwriter and a single mother isn’t so much a love story but a study in how and why two potential soul mates may or may not fall in love. When not fixing vacuum cleaners a self-proclaimed “brokenhearted Hoover-fixer sucker” of a musician (Glen Hansard lead singer of The Frames) performs other people’s songs on street corners for pennies. At night when he thinks no one’s within earshot he belts out his own ballads that reveal his deep regret at not following his girlfriend to London. But the guitarist has an enraptured audience in a young woman (singer Marketa Irglova). She’s also nursing a broken heart. She’s separated from her husband who remained in the Czech Republic after she moved to Ireland to give her baby daughter a better life. Oh and wouldn’t you know it she happens to tickle the ivories. Soon enough the two find a piano and work on one of the musician’s emotionally raw songs. They so hit it off—musically that is—that they end up in a recording studio laying down tracks for a demo that the musician hopes will finally lead to his big break. Now he’s ready to go to London. But will she go with him? More important will they act on their mutual attraction? You hope they do. They seem so right for each other. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova know how to make beautiful music together. Before filming Once Hansard and Irglova collaborated on the 2006 CD The Swell Season. And after watching their nameless strangers bond over their love of music in Once it should hardly come as surprise that they are now a real-life couple. The short hand that exists between these amateur actors has transferred to the relationship between the struggling musicians that they portray so naturally and movingly. Hansard exudes genuine shock the first time he sets eyes on Irglova. It’s the look of a man who’s just been struck by Cupid’s arrow and doesn’t know what to do or say next. Beyond offering his services as a vacuum cleaner repairman that is. Hansard proudly wears his heart in his sleeve but he also knows when to keep his emotions in check—he’s not interested in making his lonely and confused musician a fool for love. Irglova though retains an air of mystery about herself. You’re initially not sure what Irglova wants—friendship or something more—but she never comes across as coy or manipulative. Besides she can win over any doubters with her glorious smile. Her passion for music is what initially attracts her to Hansard and her feelings for him grow stronger and deeper with every song they sing together. They pour their heart and soul into their melancholy duets. Once is always at its most stirring whenever Hansard and/or Irglova sing but even when a necessary quiet settles over the proceedings a look or a gesture carries with it the promise of love. Can we pretend Chris Columbus’ sanitized version of Rent does not exist? That way John Carney can make the uncompromising film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s Broadway hit that we deserve. Having served as The Frames’ ex-bass player and a music video director Carney knows what clichés to avoid when putting a song such as the wistful “When Your Mind’s Made Up” on film. He doesn’t rely on fancy camerawork or flashy editing whenever Hansard and Irglova break into song. So what if that makes Once more VH1 than MTV? Thanks to Carney’s fly-on-the-wall approach you find yourself caught up in the fervor and conviction with which Hansard and Irglová belt out their poignant songs even if they’re just sitting down on a piano bench in a music store. Carney also doesn’t shoehorn the songs into the narrative ensuring Once never devolves into a 90-minute music video. When the singing stops Once aches with a sense of longing that was absence from the equally intimate but tediously verbose Before Sunset. Whereas you weren’t quite sure whether Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy should take a chance on love you know instantly that Hansard and Irglová deserve a lifetime of happiness together. But Carney keeps us in suspense. It’s not until the last song’s been sung do we know whether he will go all Before Sunrise on us or give us a Hollywood ending à la Music and Lyrics. Unlike that silly Hugh Grant-Drew Barrymore romcom though Once makes us care whether Hansard and Irglova‘s hearts go pop.

Synopsis

A gentle Western with Blocker in his own starring TV-movie role as a blacksmith outcast who tries to atone to the townsfolk who followed him West and built a town later bypassed by the railroad. He finally finds the way to make amends -- with the love of a good woman, a book of Emerson's essays, and a steam engine that derails nearby.